1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hinge connector used in a folding-type electronic apparatus for assisting in connecting a folder module of the electronic apparatus to a main module of the electronic apparatus. Moreover, the folder module is rotatable around two axes relative to the main module. A first electronic unit of the main module is electronically connected with a second electronic unit of the folder module. The related prior arts are listed as follows:    [1] U.S. Pat. No. 6,616,467;    [2] U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,297;    [3] U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,446; and    [4] The mobile phone of Samsung with the model number of SGH-P408.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The folding-type electronic apparatus is often utilized in designs of electronic consumer products, e.g. mobile phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), digital camera (DC), notebook, and so on. The typical folding-type electronic apparatus comprises a main module and a folder module. The main module consists of a first housing and a first electronic unit disposed in the first housing. The folder module consists of a second housing and a second electronic unit disposed in the second housing.
The so-called folding-type electronic apparatus is that the folder module thereof utilizes a hinge connector to connect the second housing and the first housing, such that the second housing is rotatable around an axis or two axes relative to the first housing. When the second housing rotates around an axis relative to the first housing, the hinge connector can rotate in one degree of freedom. When the second housing rotates around two axes relative to the first housing, the hinge connector can rotate in two degrees of freedom. Moreover, the second electronic unit of the second housing is electronically connected to the first electronic unit of the first housing by arranging the hinge connector with a flexible conductive element, e.g. a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) or a coaxial cable.
However, for the hinge connector capable of rotating in one degree of freedom, the flexible conductive element will be exposed to destructive bending stress while the folding-type electronic apparatus is folded, resulting in broken circuit or short circuit in the tiny circuit of the flexible conductive element. For the hinge connector capable of rotating in two degrees of freedom, the flexible conductive element will be exposed to even more destructive bending stress while the folding-type electronic apparatus is folded. For the flexible conductive element of the hinge connector capable of rotating in one degree of freedom, although the prior arts have proposed some special designs for reducing the bending stress of the flexible conductive element or for reducing the occurrence of broken circuit or short circuit while the tiny circuit of the flexible conductive element is being exposed to the bending stress, the above prior arts not only cannot be applied to the hinge connector capable of rotating in two degrees of freedom but also cost a lot.
Furthermore, the assembly of the general hinge connector capable of rotating in two degrees of freedom is always complex, so that the manufacturing cost of the folding-type electronic apparatus is raised.
Therefore, an objective of the present invention is to provide a hinge connector for a folding-type electronic apparatus, wherein the hinge connector can rotate in two degrees of freedom. Especially, according to the hinge connector of the present invention, the flexible conductive element receives a twisting stress instead of a destructive bending stress while the electronic apparatus is being folded.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a hinge connector for a folding-type electronic apparatus, wherein the hinge connector can rotate in two degrees of freedom and can be assembled easily.